Haha... I had Doctor Who in my mind lately. I really need to catch up with the series...

Nah but seriously... is he? Corvo? Emily's dad?

Everybody seems to think so. And so do I. I mean... look at how he interacts with her in the game... look how her mother interacts with Corvo.

To me, there no doubt: he's the baby's daddy.

There's just one big question that's been plaguing my mind while I was playing the game though:

How in the Hell was everybody in the game okay with this???

I mean, the mother in an unwed Empress!! You know that would stir shit up!

Why with all the conspiracies, the succession wars, brothers and cousins and uncles fighting over who should succeed on the throne?

Adding a bastard child to the mix would only make things even messier. Just look at European history. (and if you're not a big History aficionado, just think about Games of Thrones)

Bastard children were not always heartily welcomed. If ever.

Plus, without wanting to add any unnecessary feminist statement here, being a woman in a position of power such as being an empress would be even harder.

I mean, a king fucks around, makes babies, lots of people disagree, brothers/cousins get annoyed, and then they usually move on. (or try to have them killed) And the king would still be the king.

But if it was to be a woman... well let's be honest. People would shun her, call her a slut, a whore, they'd offer her less support in her maintaining her power over her country/empire. Because, when did anybody in politics openly associated with a slut and preserved any kind of serious influence? Not many. In fact, I don't know anybody that did... do you?

Think about it.

So, how in the world an unmarriedEmpress (as the developers of the game stated) managed to have a kid, maintain her power, and have nobody give her any kind of shit for about ten years??? ('cause Emily looks about 10)

So here's my theory... (theory that I'm guessing alot a people already had, and I'm just reaaallly really late to the party, but WHADEVA. My page, my ramblings, bitch.)

Corvo and Jessamine made the horizontal mambo during a Fugue Feast.

And that would make sense.

For those who played the game without reading any of the books in the game/forgot about it, or for those who didn't know, the Fugue Feast is a period of time in the game by the end of their calendar year when anything goes.

And I mean anything.

What happens in this period of time is not recorded, and any crimes or infidelity committed at the time is considered as having never happened. In fact, its religiously forbidden.

No husband was ever mentioned and Corvo and the Empress and Emily were far too close for him to be just the Empress' assassin. Also, Emily being a kid was a bit weird. Older she would have been the love interest, as Elisabeth in Bioshock Infinite seemed to be almost to the end.

Look at all the females running around in Dragon Age, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, GTA and they are usually adults. A kid with no father so close to the protagonist almost has to be his daughter. In the Last of Us the kid wasn't his but he virtually adopted her. Same in the first the Walking Dead.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh Thinking is pretty much all I do. Sometimes ideas just come to me. Sometimes gently, like "O hai that's neat", other times they're like a hard slap on the face. And if they are painful enough, I make a drawing/long post about them. :3There's no guaranty that those ideas would end up being great though..

I've always wondered that, but I have a feeling The empress had a late husband and everyone assume Emily was his. But you never hear any evidence to support that so idfk. I love this game to death so I hate having to face a huge plot hole in it.

You know, I did wonder who the hell was the father, and what exactly was the Outsider, and how the hell the politics in that world works, etc... but I soon stopped caring. Not because I wasn't interested, but because that world was so engrossing and coherent within itself (even with the plot holes) that it stopped bothering me (plus I think I convinced myself that Corvo was the dad, with the Empress' attitude and the hole spiel with the Fugue Feast...)There are games like that that you love unconditionally, no matter how ridiculous it gets sometimes well, for me, at least...

That's what I thought at first. But there isn't any mention in game of her being married to anyone (you'd think they'd write an article about the Emperor's death somewhere in all those books...) Plus one of the developpers confirmed she was never married.

Also how to say that the former emperor had died and choose his wife and the next rule incase of death and that Corvo being the Emporer and Empress trust man would like be Emily close and only real Male role model especial if he died young or before she was born so beside the Tutors the other people that helped raise her would be the Empress right man man Corvo so even if she is not his kid she most likely the close thing to it .So it not a far to say that Corvo see him self as her father and same for Emily if the guy played with you helped raise you ,teach you ,and protect you and your mother and been they since the day of your birth then you would see him as your father.

That's what I thought at first , that Jessamine was married then the Emperor died, leaving Emily fatherless.But there were absolutely no mention of an emperor ruling along with Jessamine. No mention in books, street graffiti, no sculptures, no paintings (granted, there weren't many sculptures or paintings of Jessamine in the game either, but she was indeed mentioned in several texts in game.)I believe if the emperor died before the empress, there would be some mention of it, but there is none. Only vague references to past emperors.And if she was married, they'd be talking about it somewhere. You can guess how marriages and alliances can be important in politics. They'd be talking about it in books, at the very least.

true they also my have forgot that detail or hell a consort to the Empress that was of noble blood but die .No real talk about the Consorts of china Emporer that Much unless they play role or talks about the Harms girl of leader in the middle east .also could have been a lover that died . we are still find out new thing all the time.thank for intel.

lol a nice Doctor Who/Dishonored cross over :d I'm sure if I showed this to my twin she'd freak out, she's a huge DW fan xD I recently got the game and I'm trying to go for low chaos so I don't have Emily freak out on me O_O Hopefully that is working, everything I've been doing seems low chaos but you never know O_O

Corvo's the baby-daddy, yes. Banged the Empress, yes. I was unaware of this Fugue Feast until you mentioned it here, so this will be very helpful in settling the disruption that this exact issue has caused among my roommates (both of whom can become a tad Victorian at times, if they read too much Jan Austin).

My guess is that the developers at Arkane came up with this great romantic sub-plot, the bodyguard and secret lover out to avenge his lover's murder and save his child...and then someone poked their head in and reminded them that such a thing just would not stand in the period Dishonored is based around. So someone else probably poked THEIR head up and said 'Let's just say that there's one day a year where anything goes, and let the players do the math for themselves.'

No matter how it came to be, I agree with you. Very, very well-played, Arkane.

Aye, I think that would make sense. Some things in the game seemed half-done/rushed. But it's understandable for big games like these. Especially when they're the very first ones of a potential franchise. You gotta get it out fast and cost-efficiently. Some thing have to be squeezed in/partially removed for the main game intent to work. Here: a dude killing/"removing" other dudes because they wronged him good. AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO ROMANTIC SUBPLOT!

Also, now I'm imagining the people at Arkane's popping their heads out of under the desks like whack-a-moles.... So, ya know... thank you for that mental image

Rushed or not, the game works beautifully; I finally got the last few achievements (not the DLC ones) yesterday, and I still want to play it again just to really look through all the books that I find and see what else I missed.

You're welcome for the amusing image. Apparently, in workplace environments where most people are sitting at desks or cubicles, any suspiciously loud noise can make the room appear like a prairie dog city, with everyone's heads popping up and looking around to see what's up.

Personally, I loved the DLCs more than the main game. Probably because of Daud and his personality. It's easier to identify with a silent character like Corvo, but following a talking, thinking character like Daud, and watch his reaction towards what you make him do is much more interesting. Also because it had a little more focus on the supernatural of that universe.(And the witches' manor was GORGEOUS.)

Plus seeing him talk about the Outsider like an disgruntled ex-boyfriend was kinda funny, not gonna lie...

I don't have the DLC's, and probably won't have them for some time (read:until I have money), but I've heard good things about them. I'm particularly interested in seeing life from Daud's point of view. This last playthrough was the only one where I didn't just sneak up behind him and choke him out, so I got to fight him and hear him ask for his life (which I always figured he deserved, anyway; punish the hand guiding the knife, not the knife itself. Fucking lord reagent).

Frankly, any additional content with the Outsider would be welcomed. I could play Dishonored again and again just to make a pit stop at each of his shrines and hear him.

Oh, well thankfully I haven't spoiled anything major... All I'm gonna say: it's really good (saying anymore would spoil it, seriously. I really don't want to ruin that experience for you )

And yes. Fucking Lord Regent indeed.

And I know what you mean about the Outsider. I love interacting with that guy. Unfortunately I don't have the time to play. Thankfully, there's youtube, and people making compilations of the Outsider's appearances